


dreaming with your eyes wide open

by ThatMerlinFangirl



Category: Class (TV 2016), Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Circuses!, First Meetings, Inspired by The Greatest Showman (2017), Love at First Sight, M/M, Romance, Trapezes!, etc. - Freeform, the greatest showman au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-15
Updated: 2018-02-15
Packaged: 2019-03-19 04:39:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13697037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatMerlinFangirl/pseuds/ThatMerlinFangirl
Summary: Matteusz reluctantly accepts an invitation to the circus.





	dreaming with your eyes wide open

**Author's Note:**

> Soo... I have seen The Greatest Showman twice now and I may or may not be slightly obsessed with it?  
> This doesn't follow the movie's exact plot, it's really just inspired by one scene from it so there aren't any massive spoilers or anything. So yeah, without any further ado...  
> (Also, for the zero people who are interested, I'm on tumblr, username 'im-here-for-the-cabinet'. Shameless and totally smooth self-promotion.)

Matteusz is really not sure what has possessed him to do this.

He should currently be attending a dinner party before heading out to the theatre to make the final checks for tomorrow. Instead, he is standing in the very long and very rowdy queue to get into the TARDIS Circus and shivering a lot.

When Bill Potts, his best friend and formerly one of the cleaners at the theatre, told him that she had joined the circus, his initial reaction had been one of disbelief and skepticism. He does not, as a rule, care for circuses, too full of frauds and drunkards for his liking, and far too cruel to the performers. But Bill had insisted that it was different and spent weeks trying to persuade him to come to her first performance. He had finally agreed, both out of friendship and sheer exhaustion. Bill is very stubborn when she wants to be.

His parents would kill him if they knew where he was. As he stands there, Matteusz wonders if this is really worth it and if it would be possible to slip away and why he is even here, standing among this crowd of unbelievably smelly lunatics.

He shakes his head, frowning to himself. He is here to support his friend and to - supposedly - have fun, although the critic's reviews would suggest otherwise.

"There you are!"

He turns to see a grinning Bill standing beside him, dressed in a golden leotard with silver streaks shimmering on her cheekbones.

"Hello Bill," Matteusz beams back at her.

"Do you like the outfit?" She strikes a pose, batting her eyelashes in a melodramatic fashion. He laughs.

"Very nice. It is quite sparkly, no?"

"You think this is sparkly, wait until you see April's dress." Bill bounces up and down on the balls of her feet. "Arghh, I'm so nervous."

"Do not worry. I know you will be wonderful. It will hopefully be worth all this standing around."

She frowns. "Huh?"

"You know, waiting to get in. Why you English are so fond of queues I will never know."

"Oh!" Bill slaps her forehead in exasperation. "I'm so sorry, I completely forgot, you don't have to queue!"

This time it is Matteusz's turn to frown and go 'huh?'

"You're my guest! Rules are that if a circus member invites you here, you can just go in through the other door. Come on, I'll show you."

She pulls him away from the queue and around the side of the building towards a small entrance marked 'Private'. They go through and end up in a shadowy back room that vibrates with the murmurs and footsteps of the audience as they settle into their seats.

"Thirteen always lets guests up in the box," Bill explains as she leads him up a narrow staircase. "You'll get a much better view up here."

"Who is Thirteen?"

"Oh, she's my boss. She hates her real name, so she goes by Thirteen instead. It's her lucky number apparently."

"She sounds like a very strange woman."

Bill laughs. "Yeah she is. But she's amazing."

They've arrived in the box now, and Matteusz thinks it is good that it's only the two of them up there because there is barely enough room left for a mouse. On the other hand, it does give him a rather spectacular view of the performance space, which looks almost magical, lit up in gold and red with silk drapes and strange devices set out in the ring.

"Ah shit," Bill says suddenly. "I've got to run, I'm on in a minute."

"Good luck!" Matteusz calls after her as she dashes away. He takes his seat as the lights hanging over the audience dim.

\---

The show opens quite literally with a bang, as a small explosion goes off at the front of the stage, somehow miraculously revealing a tall, blonde woman in a top hat and a fancy jacket with rainbow stripes. The crowd cheers as she introduces herself as The Doctor, then louder so as she pulls out a strange device from her pocket and uses it to make a shower of glitter rain down from the roof as the first song begins.

Matteusz has to admit that it is impressive. All the performers are perfectly in sync, bellowing at the top of their lungs, stomping and clapping to the music (he spots Bill near the centre at one point, looking like she is about to explode with joy, and feels a swell of pride for her). Each musical number is fast-paced and catchy, with several audience members joining in on more than one occasion.

The individual acts are just as impressive. A woman who looks remarkably similar to the Doctor (save for the fact that she is dressed entirely in black with a murderous scowl on her face) throws knives and somersaults through rings of fire. A double act consisting of a boy with a silver leg and a girl with her hair in braids perform tricks with a creature who looks like a dragon, but can't possibly be, surely. A girl in a flowing dress that glitters with gemstones (she must be the April who Bill mentioned) plays the violin with such passion and sorrow that many are reduced to tears.

Matteusz is mostly definitely eating his words, because this is not cheap, sleazy entertainment for the drunken masses. This is something special.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment you've waited for!" the Doctor roars, flourishing her strange device, just as she has done at the start of every act. "Allow me to present the star of our nation's skies, the angel who dances across the clouds - I give you, the Prince of Rhodia!"

She clicks something and the lights change. Everything suddenly becomes blue, little flecks of light dancing across the roof, and Matteusz realises that the circus has been transformed into the night sky.

The crowd gasps as one as a young man on a trapeze flies - there can be no other word for it - literally _flies_ across the stage. He wears a simple, tight-fitted white costume that seems to glow as he soars through the air, twisting and turning, elegant and effortlessly graceful.

Matteusz can only stare mesmerised, as the rest of the crowd cheers.

The boy swings suddenly, and then he is flying towards the box, closer, closer, so close that for a moment Matteusz fears that he will crash into it -

And then everything slows down.

The cheers, the claps, everything fades away as the boy looks up at him and they lock eyes.

Those eyes.

He swears that he can see the entire galaxy swirling around in them.

There is glitter on his cheeks and golden bands on his arms and the boy's hand is extended towards him as he comes closer, closer -

And then gravity pulls him swiftly away and reality comes crashing down around him so hard that Matteusz wonders why the universe hasn't shattered.

He realises he is frozen halfway out of his seat and sinks back down, feeling dizzy and overwhelmed and slightly foolish, his head still spinning and stars dancing in his eyes.

\---

As soon as the show ends, he makes for the stairs and where he hopes the backstage area is, because he has to find this boy.

"Matteusz!" Bill waves him over to where she is standing with the Doctor. "Thirteen, this is my friend from the theatre."

"A pleasure to meet you young man!" the blonde woman shakes his hand so vigorously that it is a wonder it doesn't fall off. "I trust you enjoyed the show?"

"Yes, it was marvellous," Matteusz says hurriedly. "Listen, do you know where -"

"Charlie! Charlie! Come here and meet Bill's friend!"

Matteusz's heart almost stops when the trapeze boy comes running towards them. He somehow looks even more beautiful and ethereal than when he was up in the air.

"Matteusz, Charlie Smith. Charlie, Matteusz Andrzejewski," says Bill.

Charlie smiles at him and fuck, of course his smile is perfect. "Nice to meet you Mr Andrzejewski."

"You too," he answers breathlessly, before tearing his eyes away and turning to the Doctor. "I don't suppose you have any positions free in your circus?"

Her smile seems to grow wider, if that is even physically possible (which it really shouldn't be). "Of course! The more the merrier!"

"And you said you didn't care for the circus!" Bill grins.

Charlie too, seems pleased. "So, what is your act Mr Andrzejewski?"

Now would be the correct moment to say something astounding and impressive, with just a hint of a flirtation, but of course Matteusz's mind grounds to a halt and he stutters. "I, err - I do not have an act."

"Everyone's got an act."

Charlie then honest to God _smirks_ at him and saunters away, his gaze lingering behind him. Matteusz watches him leave, still unable to form coherent thoughts.

Bill giggles. "Well I'm no expert on love, but you my friend, look completely smitten." 

_You have no idea_ , Matteusz thinks. _No idea at all._


End file.
